He turned around, told the Sergeant to leave me, and ordered me to sit down upon a box at the other end of the room.
Turning his back and resuming his writing, in a few minutes he had forgotten me.

I sat quietly, taking in the details for a half-hour, and then, having exhausted everything else in the room, I began wondering what was in the box I was sitting upon.

The lid was loose; I hitched it forward a little without attracting Wirz's attention, and slipped my left hand down of a voyage of discovery.

It seemed very likely that there was something there that a loyal Yankee deserved better than a Rebel.
I found that it was a fine article of soft soap.

A handful was scooped up and speedily shoved into my left pantaloon pocket.